Lockdown Protocol

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Lockdown Protocol with the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER show a predictable scaling pattern, but the magnitude of the drop from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck sits. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 287.8 at 1920x1080 to 138.3 at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly 52%. This is a substantial decline, indicating that even at the lowest graphical load, the GPU is being pushed hard at 4K. The RTX 4070 SUPER is clearly the limiting component in this scenario, as the CPU's high single-thread performance cannot compensate for the sheer pixel count.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is steeper in absolute terms but similar in proportion. The average FPS drops from 135.1 at 1080p to 65.4 at 4K, a 52% reduction as well. This consistency across settings suggests that the performance curve is primarily dictated by resolution, not by the complexity of the scene or the preset's specific effects. The data shows that at 1080p, the combo is capable of pushing well beyond 200 FPS on Low and Medium, which indicates the CPU is feeding the GPU efficiently. However, as resolution climbs, the GPU's workload increases linearly, and the frame rate falls accordingly.

The limiting component is the GPU, particularly at 2560x1440 and above. At 1440p Low, the combo hits 214.5 FPS, which is still high, but at 4K Low it drops to 138.3. This shows that the RTX 4070 SUPER has enough headroom at lower resolutions to leverage the CPU's strengths, but at 4K, the GPU's rasterization and memory bandwidth become the ceiling. The 12 GB of VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate, but the 192-bit bus width and 80 ROPs constrain fill-rate-heavy scenarios. For gamers targeting 4K, the data suggests that even Low settings will not hit 144 FPS consistently, while 1080p and 1440p offer much more flexibility.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 181. This is a strong result, placing the combo well above the 144 Hz refresh rate threshold for competitive play.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra compared to 4K Low?

A: At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers 65.4 FPS on average, while Low settings yield 138.3 FPS. The difference of 72.9 FPS shows that turning down settings has a major impact on 4K playability, though Ultra remains playable for slower-paced sessions.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700X a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The benchmark data indicates no CPU bottleneck at 1080p. With Low settings achieving 287.8 FPS, the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads, along with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, are sufficient to drive the GPU to its limits. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1280 supports this.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 260 out of 1637 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the top 16% of all configurations, a strong showing for a mid-to-high-end pairing.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 4070 SUPER have, and is it sufficient?

A: The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus. For this game, the data shows no obvious VRAM-related stutter at any preset, as frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings. The memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s is adequate for the measured workloads.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the CPU?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X has a launch MSRP of $359.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 260th out of 1637 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. This percentile placement is strong, reflecting a balanced pairing that excels in a fast-paced FPS. The CPU's percentile vs all CPUs is 89, meaning it outperforms 89% of tested processors, while the GPU's percentile is 84. When combined, the system lands in the 84th percentile of all combos, which aligns with the GPU's individual standing.

This ranking is driven by the high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. At 1080p Medium, the combo hits 207.1 FPS, and at 1440p High, it maintains 130.3 FPS. These numbers are competitive with systems that feature higher-end GPUs but are held back by weaker CPUs. Conversely, the combo's rank would likely be lower if the game were CPU-bound, but the data shows that the 9700X's 3DMark max-thread score of 9771 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 31588 provide ample headroom. The rank of 260 is not a top-10 placement, but it represents a high level of performance that will satisfy most players, especially those on 1440p monitors.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data points to 2560x1440 with High settings as the sweet spot. At this configuration, the combo delivers 130.3 FPS, which is smooth for a competitive FPS and visually rich. Dropping to Medium at 1440p only increases the average to 150 FPS, a 15% gain that may not justify the visual downgrade. At 1080p, High settings at 181 FPS are excellent for esports-style play, but the visual fidelity is lower than 1440p.

For 4K, the recommendation is Low settings, which yield 138.3 FPS. This is surprising, as it shows that the GPU can handle 4K if the graphical load is minimal. However, the jump from Low to Medium at 4K is significant: the average drops to 97.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 65.4 FPS. Given that 4K High only achieves 85.3 FPS, players with 4K displays should stick to Low or Medium, depending on whether they prioritize frame rate or visuals. The Ultra preset is only viable for cinematic single-player moments, not for competitive play.

The data suggests that the best experience is 1440p High, as it balances the GPU's capabilities with the CPU's strengths. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB VRAM is not taxed at this resolution, and the 1980 MHz base clock and 2475 MHz boost clock provide sufficient throughput.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings average 287.8 FPS, Medium averages 207.1 FPS, High averages 181 FPS, and Ultra averages 135.1 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 53% drop, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. The jump from Low to Medium is 80.7 FPS, indicating that Medium adds significant graphical effects that impact performance.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 214.5 FPS on Low, 150 FPS on Medium, 130.3 FPS on High, and 100.9 FPS on Ultra. The delta between Low and Medium is 64.5 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 29.4 FPS. This shows that the Ultra preset is particularly demanding, likely due to higher shadow quality and post-processing effects.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 138.3 FPS on Low, 97.1 FPS on Medium, 85.3 FPS on High, and 65.4 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 53% drop, mirroring the 1080p pattern. However, the absolute numbers are much lower, confirming the GPU as the bottleneck. The difference between 1440p and 4K at High settings is 45 FPS, which is a significant loss for players upgrading to 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 287.8 FPS, which is near the practical limit for many displays. This high frame rate is only possible because the CPU can process game logic quickly.

The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce this. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1280 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4459 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for FPS games that rely on a few main threads. The 3DMark 8-thread score of 8184 and max-thread score of 9771 show that multi-threaded performance is also solid, but the game appears to be GPU-limited at higher resolutions. The CPU's L3 cache of 32 MB shared and 1 MB L2 per core reduce latency, which helps maintain consistent frame times.

The nearest rival comparisons show the 9700X is within 0.2% of the Intel Core i5-14500HX and 0.4% behind the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H in average benchmark score. This indicates that the CPU is not a weak link, and any performance differences in the game are due to the GPU.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture and the AD104 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process. It has 7168 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, with 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores. The GPU's base clock is 1980 MHz with a boost of 2475 MHz, and it has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rate, especially at 1440p and 4K. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 65.4, which is below the 144 Hz target for competitive play. The GPU's pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s are high, but the 192-bit memory bus limits the effective bandwidth at high resolutions. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game, as no VRAM-related stutters are evident in the data.

The GPU's benchmark scores are strong, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4627 and a Passmark G3D score of 29995. The nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, has a delta of -0.2%, meaning the 4070 SUPER is slightly ahead in average benchmark score. This confirms that the GPU is a high-performing part, but the 4K Ultra result shows its limits. The 220 W TDP and 550 W suggested PSU indicate that power delivery is not a constraint for this pairing.